Reading the Future
by hp-pj nutter
Summary: the summary is inside the story but basically Lilly , James and their friends read Harry Potter 1 and their might be future characters has well rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone hp-pj nutter here this is my first fanfic so please be nice, there might be loads already like this but i'll try to make it a bit different this is off Lily and the Marauders (peter is not in the Marauders) and others ready Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone hope you enjoy it (future characters may come in)

Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters mentioned in this story I am not J.

James and Sirius were in the library. I know what you are thinking James Potter and Sirius Black in the Hogwarts library how could that be done. Well this was done in the form of Remus Lupin wanting to study during the holidays. So James and Sirius accompanied him and could be found in one of the aisles looking up at the books reading each spine to see if everything could catch their eye.

"So James how are you and Lily going?" asked Sirius. James turned to him grinning. Six years it took him to get Lily Evans to go out with him and at the start of their Seventh year she had agreed it has now been four months and James couldn't be happier.

"Fine thanks Padfoot mate I couldn't be happier." James answered. All of a sudden there was a shout for the next aisle where Remus had been studying. James and Sirius rushed round the corner to see Remus holding a red book.

"Bloody hell Moony you nearly gave me a heart attack!" complained Sirius.

"Sorry Padfoot. Prongs I think you should take a look at this." Remus voice faltered a bit at the end of the sentence. James strode over to him and gasped when he saw the title of the book.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When was it published?" asked James. Remus turned the book around and found the publishing date.

" it's 1977 now how does that work?" said Remus in an astounded voice.

"Well Moony, it looks like you just found a book from the future m'boy." Said Sirius in a pompous manner. James and Remus rolled their eyes at Sirius before turning to each other.

"Prongs, do you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Remus whispered

"Yeah but first lets go get Lily, Alice and Frank and floo message Molly and Arthur to come and meet at Dumbledore's office." Was James' whispered reply. So the three best friends left the library and hurried to the Gryffindor common room. When they reached the Fat Lady they all yelled in together "Godric" and scrambled through the door. Once inside they found Lily and Alice sitting on one of the couches talking. When they came in, Lily looked up and on seeing James her face produced a smile.

"James where have you three been? And why does it look like you have been running?" Lily asked. "Well my darling Lily we have been to the library and have made a really big and random discovery." James answered her with a kiss.

"Where's Frank he needs to be here as well." Said Sirius turning away from his two friends who had just locked lips. Alice answered him "he's in the dormitories." With that Sirius sped off to tell him the story while Remus went to the fire to use the Floo Network to contact Molly and Arthur. After this was done and Frank, Molly and Arthur arrived the group headed off to Dumbledore's office.

Well what do you think so far the book will be coming up in chapter to that will be up later tonight hopefully I'm just about to think of a way to introduce the future characters. All reviews appreciated thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone hp-pj nutter here , well here's the next chapter hope you enjoy I know how to bring all the characters on now so hopefully I will be faster in publishing the chapters. Disclaimer: i do not own Harry Potter or any other characters.

As the group of eight made their way up to their headmaster's study , they heard banging coming from the downstairs corridor. James signalled everyone to follow him and as they reached the corridor they pulled out their wands and turned into the corridor.

What was there to meet them was the strangest scene you could ever imagine. A red headed boy and girl were standing in the corridor having , what looked like a shouting match.

"You are so flipping dead RONALD WEASLEY!" screamed the girl. She was about a year younger than him and much smaller however her glare looked like it could have killed.

"What do you want me to say Ginny? How the hell was I suppose to know that by clicking the deluminator that we end up in a corridor , in what looks like Hogwarts, with eight other people!?" the boy , Ronald, was fighting back to the girl when he noticed all the other teenagers standing in the corner. The girl , Ginny , wheeled round to face them and was shocked to find they were not alone.

"Show yourselves!" The boy , Ronald insisted. One by one , James , Lily ,Sirius , Remus, Molly, Arthur, Alice and Frank came out of the shadows. Ronald and Ginny did one quick look over on all of recognizing their own parents in the crowd. They didn't however know the other six people. James decided to act and take them to Dumbledore.

"Hello , I'm the head boy of Hogwarts School, we were just on our way to Professor Dumbledore's study when we heard a disturbance and came to investigate it. I would be more than happy to take you to Dumbledore myself."

Ronald and Ginny looked at each other and started to have a whispered conversation. As James was growing impatient and was about to stop their conversation, the girl , Ginny spoke.

"My brother and I would be very grateful to let us accompany you to your headmaster's study." She nodded to each of them and in taking her brother's hand told them to lead the way.

At arriving at the headmaster's office, Lily gave the password.

"Chocolate frogs" as the gargoyle moved , a spiral staircase came into view. The teenagers made their way up towards that had an eagle paw type knocker. Remus knocked and they heard a voice "Enter".

As the group entered they noticed that Dumbledore wasn't alone. There stood a woman , with piercing eyes and black hair put in a bun.

"Professor McGonagall , Professor Dumbledore sir , James , Sirius and I have found something that might be useful to you. We have also brought two people who we found having a shouting match in the downstairs corridor , who we have never met before." Remus explained.

"Indeed? Well then bring forth the object and the people." Said Dumbledore intrigued. As Remus pulled out the book , Lily gave Ginny and Ronald a push and a smile to say it's alright speak to him. Dumbledore was staring at the book , then at the girl and the boy. He smiled in kindness and suggested they all sat around to read the book.

"Who would like to read first?" Dumbledore asked.

"I will." Said Remus.

"Chapter One – The Boy Who Lived." Started Remus

Everyone glanced at Ginny and Ronald (Ron as he said to call him) because they had just gasped out loud . They both blushed said sorry and told Remus to start.

"**Mr and Mrs Dursley.."**

"Why are my sister and her husband in this book?" asked Lily. Again Ginny and Ron glanced at each other.

"Lils they probably going to explain let Remus continue." James said

"**Of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal thank you very much."**

"Who wants to be normal for Gods sakes , I love being a wizard." Sirius interrupted

"Padfoot , for all our sakes shut up." Answered James.

"Sorry carry on Remus."

"**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache."**

"He sounds like a right charmer doesn't he." Alice added sarcastically.

"Your right on the money Alice , he sounds just like my sisters new husband." Lily said between fits of giggles.

"Lils you know I love it when you laugh but Remus won't get through this chapter with interruptions." James calmly said.

"Yeah sorry Remus." Lily muffled trying to stifle her giggles.

"**Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a son called Dudley.."**

At this everyone was in fits.

"Dudley? That poor boy, by the sounds of it his parents had trouble thinking of a name and picked the first one they thought off." Sirius barked out a laugh.

"**And in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."**

"**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

Everyone gaped at James who had said "What's wrong with the Potters!?"

"**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister....**

"Poor girl." Sirius muttered

"Why say that pads?" wondered James

"Well not only has she get a bitch of a sister , she also has to put up with being your wife. "smirked Sirius

"Well now I know how you feel." James added sarcastically

Ginny giggled a bit at this because he reminded her so much of her boyfriend Harry ... wait now she thought about it this head boy did look a lot like Harry but he has the head girl's eyes.... then it clicked who they were. She looked at her brother and nodded her head as if to say "you're right."

Ron smirked at this then told Remus to carry on.

**, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,**

"Well she probably does to you horse faced muggle!" exclaimed James. This woman was reminding her more and more of Lily's sister Petunia. He shuddered at the thought of her and her newly wedded husband.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish**

"That's not a word! Has she got her own dictionary that nobody else uses!" this time Frank interrupted and Remus was agreeing with him. Ron and Ginny again exchanged glances this is going to be a long night.

**As it was possible to be. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"Ok , one; I'm glad I have a son , two; Well you're a good uncle and third; I think I would be more worried about him mixing with your son!" James said hotly.

Lily looked at her boyfriend lovingly , she couldn't believe that he was sticking up for someone he had never seen before.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work**

"I hate your in laws Jamsie boy." Said Sirius

"So do I pads , so do I." Muttered James.

**and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

"What a bratty child." Molly said with disgust.

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window. At half-past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house.**** He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.**

"I bet it is Minnie boys." Remus jumped up interrupting himself.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat**

"Definitely Minnie." James and Sirius smirked at each other.

**standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

"That's what you think." Muttered McGonagall.

Dumbledore chuckled and motioned Remus to continue.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"This guy is starting to bug the hell outta me." Alice said darkly.

Ginny and Ron glanced at each other that they missed the next few lines. They hurriedly went back to listening to Remus.

**-Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it.**

"Why are they being so careless?" Lily whispered

"Don't worry Lily you'll find out soon, but maybe that is something for you and James to worry about." The group turned to Ginny who was the one who had spoken.

"How do you know mine and my boyfriend's name we didn't introduce ourselves?" Lily looked suspicious.

"Oh crap. Mmm... well I mmm.... don't know ..... Ron help me out?" Ginny turned pleading to her brother.

"Well basically we know the boy in the story he's my best mate and my sister's boyfriend and we know your name's because , your his parents. We can't really say anything else until this chapter is finished but I just gave you the basics." Ron finished lamely

"Okay , Remus continue please." Lily added.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on** **drills.**

"Weirdo." Sirius muttered

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"Bloody hell I don't like were this going." Remus and Frank whispered

**Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people.**

"Poor muggles."

**He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Really you already sound big enough you walrus!" blurted out McGonagall to everyone's surprise.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —"**

**" — yes, their son, Harry —"**

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead.**

"Oh my God why are they talking about us and Harry?" James and Lily said in synchronization. Ron and Ginny looked really uncomfortably.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road,**

"There's an image." Said Alice closing her eyes.

**hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him,**

**seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid.**

"Well at least he admits it." Ron muttered under his breath

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name.**

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy.**

**It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Ew do we look like we live in the medieval times? Why would we call him Harold?" Lily said

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if he'd had a sister like that…**

**but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak.**

**He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last!**

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"Bet he couldn't get his arms all the way round." Sniggered Arthur.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was.**

**He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning.**

**It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes. "Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

"Won't work." Remus said rolling his eyes

**The cat didn't move.**

**It just gave him a stern look.**

"See." Said Remus smugly.

**Was this normal cat behaviour? Mr. Dursley wondered.**

"** Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined** **not to mention anything to his wife.**

"Wimp." Everyone said

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"that's a good thing?" Dumbledore muttered so quietly that only McGonagall heard him.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

_**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**_

_**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**_

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to** **her.**

"Wow this should be fun." Frank laughed.

**He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a** **sister.**

"Harsh Petunia. Harsh." Lily whispered with tears in her eyes. James gave her hug and then left his arm around her waist.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… her crowd."**

HER CROWD!!!!! That thought went round in James head like a record.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips.**

**Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare.**

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Shut up you old dirty bag." Lily shouted causing everyone to jump.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things?**

"Nope. You most certainly aren't." Said Sirius cheerfully.

**Could all this have anything** **to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind…**

**He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect them…**

**How very wrong he was.**

"That's not hard for him." Muttered Ginny.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"It's you Professor !" exclaimed the teenagers.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

"No I know that hehe." Chuckled Albus

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness.**

"Wow. A deluminator sir. Ron has one as well." James said shocked

"How interesting." Said Albus intrigued

**Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

Everyone grinned.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news."**

**She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

There was a shocked silence. "So this is going to happen in for four years?" whispered Lily. Everyone looked at Ron and Ginny who both nodded.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."**

Everyone held their breath.

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore.**

**"We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

"A what?" Asked James

_**"A what?"**_

"Spooky , prongs , spooky." Said Sirius

**"A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort."**

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

Everyone nodded in agreement.

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Don't be silly sir , you're just to noble to use them." Alice said sympathetically

**"Only because you're too — well —noble to use them."**

"Huh." Alice said stunned

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

The teenagers had a hard time keeping straight faces.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

Everyone stared at the book eagerly.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.**

**The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."**

Again there was a silence. This was broke by Lily bursting into tears and having James comfort her. Ron and Ginny looked very guilty that they couldn't tell her before.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all.**

"** They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

"NO! Not Harry." James and Lily yelled.

**But he couldn't.**

Sirius , James and Remus looked blankly at each other.

**He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's — it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Dumbledore why are you at Privet Drive?" Lily muttered

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles.**

**Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge.**

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though,**

**because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"Hagrid?" Alice asked quizzically

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"no. Dumbledore. Why in the name of Merlin would you do that!!!!" Lily Asked

"Because He will grow up away from everyone asking how he defeated one of the greatest wizards of all time."Dumbledore answered gravely.

**"You don't mean – you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't.**

**I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter?" said Remus with contempt

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter?**

"I agree with my future self Albus."

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future — there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Fine." Lily huffed

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course.**

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it —wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"So would I , back me up James , Sirius , and Remus?" Lily said

"Yes of course." But it wasn't one of the three boys , it was Ron. He blushed and said sorry telling Remus to continue.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall**

**grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"A motorbike! Hagrid is a lucky guy." Moaned Sirius

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

"ITS MINE????YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Sirius

James and Remus looked at each and rolled their eyes.

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir — house was almost destroyed,**

Lily and James winced.

**but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"aww, how sweet." Cooed Ginny , Alice , Molly and Lily. Guys all looked at each other and muttered something that sounded like women.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep.**

**Under a tuft of jet-black hair**

"Oh no. Not the Potter hair." Winced Lily. She looked at Ginny and Ron for conformation and they nodded also adding that it never lies down , but he has her eyes. She smiled at the thought.

**over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

"Couldn't you do anything sir?" James asked

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"Random."

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

They all laughed at this.

**Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"humph , change that statement." Huffed Sirius

Everyone but James , Remus and to their surprise Ginny and Ron looked confused.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"**

"Neither can I Hagrid." Muttered James

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two.**

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook,**

"Aww, don't cry Hagrid." Begged Lily

**Professor McGonagall blinked furiously,**

"Professor , I didn't know you cared so much I'm honoured." Said James lightening the mood, even getting a giggle out of Lily

**and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

Everyone shivered at the image.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

Don't think i'll be there thought Remus and Sirius

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

Sirius grinned.

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

"aww, Professor."

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up.**

**One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles,**

"Screw you Petunia."

**nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…**

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end of the chapter , who's next?" said Remus

"I'll go." Said James. However before he could begin there was a loud knock on the door.

Well what do you think please review..... the next chapter might take awhile because its my birthday Thursday so keep them reviews coming thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone Hp-Pj nutter here. I'm so sorry for the very long wait but I had my holidays, mates and my exams have just passed and i have been really ill and with that cheerful thought in your mind we can begin (I am not J.K Rowling.)

"Enter." Dumbledore announced.

Professor Flitwick came bounding in and in a hurried voice explained that there was a disturbance in the downstairs corridor. Dumbledore swiftly got up from his chair and asked everyone not to continue before he returned.

"Well Ron, Ginny what year are you guys from?" Remus asked to break the silence.

"12th of August 1997." Ginny answered.

"Wow." Sirius whispered.

"Mmm... can I just see if I have this right?" Ron asked "Your James and Lily Potter maiden name Evans." James and Lily nodded. "You're Remus Lupin." Remus nodded. "Molly and Arthur Weasley." They also nodded. "Frank and Alice Longbottom." Frank nodded and Alice looked stunned that she married Frank but nodded as well. "Sirius Black." Sirius nodded. "Ok good, I just thought I knew you all from somewhere." Ron concluded.

Suddenly there where voices from the other side of the door and in came a girl with bushy hair , another ginger boy , a slightly plump boy who had lots of faint scars and finally a boy with messy black hair , glasses , emerald green eyes and a lightening shape scar on his head. Ron and Ginny jumped up giving them all hugs (however Ron kissed the bushy haired girl and Ginny kissed the blacked hair boy.) Dumbledore started with the introduction.

"Everyone this is, Hermione Granger." The bushy hair girl nodded. "George Weasley." The ginger boy nodded. "Neville Longbottom." The plump boy nodded. "And this ladies and gentlemen is none other than Harry Potter." The blacked hair boy nodded slightly uncomfortable, as he was aware of everyone staring at him. His eyes, travelled along the group noticing, Remus, Sirius, The Longbottom's, The Weasley's then finally falling on his own parents.

"Ok, this is nuts, Hermione can you pinch me please?" Harry asked.

"Mmm... ok." Hermione reached over and pinched him, it hurt quite a lot so he obviously he wasn't dreaming.

"Ok so i'm not dreaming..." Harry said rubbing the spot Hermione had pinched. Harry's eyes wondered back to the two head students he whispered ,

"Hi mum , dad." Lily and James stood up quickly and went and hugged their son. Everyone smiled at the scene and was very surpirsed when Harry and Hermione launched themselves at Sirius and Remus. Sirius and Remus looked at each other shrugged and returned the hugs.

"Aww , lovely meetings of old and new people." Dumbledore said rubbing his eyes. " But if you please now sit down so we can continue with the book , i have already filled in our new arrivals." Everybody sat around James as he began reading.

"**The vanishing glass" **James read.

"oh good." Harry rolled his eyes. This was not his favourite memory.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets **

There was a pause before everyone burst into laughter. Hermione and Ron where smirking at Harry as he winked and told his dad to read on.

— **but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"Did you get away Harry? " Sirius asked excitedly but then was sullen when James read the next line.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there**

**asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day. **

"**Up! Get up! Now!" **

"Oh I hated waking up to that every time she saw my owl." Lily's eyes narrowed.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. **

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

**His aunt was back outside the door. **

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded. **

"**Nearly," said Harry. **

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday." **

"They made you cook Harry?" Hermione asked shocked.

"Yeah from the age of eight i was told to cook whenever it was one of their birthdays." Harry answered and he saw James and Lily frown with anger.

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing…" **

**Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider**

Ron shuddered much to Hermione and Harry's amusement.

**off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept. **

"WHAT?" That was the moment Lily exploded. James couldn't calm her down cause he was furious as well so Harry took it upon himself to console the woman he never know.

"Mum, calm down. It wasn't as bad as it sound yeah it was a bit depressing and sometimes they locked me in there but after while I knew arguing wouldn't have solved the problem so i just let it be." He smiled at his mother smouldering her with his eyes exactly like her own, and she felt the anger leaving her immediately the same way James could when he wanted her too.

Remus and Sirius looked at this quite impressed. James couldn't have got her out of a really exploding anger and quietly applauded Harry on how he managed it.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise **

**unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry**

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast**.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

Remus and Sirius both smirked at James and then added to the future people who had looks of confusion on their faces, "that's how James looked at that age." And they both went off into giggles.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.**

"aww, Lily's eyes." Everyone cooed much to Harry embarrassment.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. **

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.**

"A car crash? Why would she lie to you?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"**And don't ask questions." **

**Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. **

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.**

"Yeah thanks for the hair dad , don't know what i would do without it." Harry said sarcastically. Sirius and Remus were crying with laughter. Sirius was able to choke out something like a true marauder.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. **

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

That did it for everyone , they burst into fits of giggles and James and Lily where looking at their son with pride at his wit.

"Yeah , that's defiantly you mate." Ron said ruffling Harry's hair while laughing.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"And Dudley wonders why he acted like a fat bully to me all those years with shoving all them presents in my face when i got a coat rack" Harry muttered to Hermione and Ron who both nodded in agreement.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

"Petunia really knows how to spoil people doesn't she." Lily murmured and Harry replied "More than you know mum."

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"Bloody hell even Sirius would have known that and he doesn't know a lot of things." Remus exclaimed and got an angry prod from Sirius and a pat on the back from James.

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. **

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. **

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. **

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. **

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."**

"He has a name you cow. Say it HARRY!" Alice and Molly said together.

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction. **

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"The horror!" shouted Sirius. Harry winked at Hermione and Ron who both smirked and nodded in agreement.

"Padfoot, let Prongs read on. Moony could you control Padfoot please?" Harry all most busted with laughter at look on their faces.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

James and Lily both growled at that and Harry sent them a reassuring smile.

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?" **

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. **

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled. **

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…" **

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…" **

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

"**Dinky Duddydums, **

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. **

"**I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

"YOU FAT GIT, NO WONDER YOUR HORSE-FACE'S SON!" Nobody said anything and just let Lily simmer with anger after her outburst.

**Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. **

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

"Of course he did." Frank said shaking his head.

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas." **

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…" **

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. **

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

Lily started crying again and James jaw was jumping as he thought that Harry shouldn't have had to go through with that.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). **

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. **

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. **

"Nice Jumper." Sirius grinned and then in his place was a dog which was cleaned, dry and in a ballet costume. Everyone laughed and gave Harry high fives as he put his wand away.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"… **roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them. **

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." **

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" **

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream." **

Sirius growled in his dog form as if to say yes they can.

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. **

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"Which are surprisingly nice, come to think of it." Hermione said

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Everybody let loose a giggle at that.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. **

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. **

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

Everyone groaned expect for Harry, Hermione and Ron who all shared a look, nodded and drew their wands and kept them pointed at the three maurders and Lily, only Dumbledore noticed this interaction.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. **

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"Your sympathizing with a snake?" Arthur said raising an eyebrow. All the kids from the future looked at Harry and without looking at them he nodded and they turned away satisfied.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. **

**It winked.**

"...Excuse ... me...did... it ... say... winked?" Alice said carefully.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"ohhhhhh." All the future teenagers groaned and Harry smiled sheepishly at his parents.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: **

"**I get that all the time." **

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." **

**The snake nodded vigorously. **

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. **

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. **

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. **

"**Was it nice there?" **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"So you're a parselmouth Harry?" James asked of his son. Harry nodded and shrugged at the same time. Confused James returned to reading.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. **

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"Very impressive magic Mr. Potter." Dumbledore and McGonagall said.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. **

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo." **

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. **

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" **

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals,"**

"He can't do that." Remus and Sirius (who had changed back to human form) exclaimed.

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. **

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. **

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Nobody spoke but looked at Harry in awe and finally after about ten minutes Dumbledore asked "You survived the killing curse?" Harry replied "Yeah, the only one every too. I was known as the Boy who Lived, the chosen one and other bad names when i was being discredited by the ministry in years five and seven. Oh and I was quite famous in the wizarding world and unfortunately still am." Harry finished with a grimace and everyone from the future nodded in agreement. George said "Yeah Harry has always been a good leader, a good person his years during Hogwarts proved that much." Harry smiled at him in appreciation.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

James and Lily where both angry and sad at this statement.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; **

**the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. **

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. **

"Wow that must be weird." Remus said.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses**

"That's the end of the chapter." James said closing the book.

"Well why don't we go get some lunch and reconvene in an hour or so." Dumbledore suggested everyone nodded at this idea and followed him out of the head's office.

Hope you like please review Hp-nutter xxxx


End file.
